Oakland Temple

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Week 24 - Modesto

Buenos dias mi familia!

Hermana Zapata is my new companion. She is from Tamaulipas, Mexico and is a native spanish speaker. She is helping me with spanish and I am helping her with english. I love it.

This week was a shake up. I think any time you get a new companion after becoming accustomed to the previous one,it's different. Not in a bad way, just different. If you know me, changes stress me out. There was lots of stress, but Hermana Zapata makes it nice and easy. I feel like I am the one being trained...Explain that. I think Hermana Zapata is a better missionary than I am. :) I love her. She is so loving and patient with me. I am looking forward to this next 7 weeks with her (this transfer is one week longer due to an extension happening at the MTC, it throws all the missions off on transfers).

This week in a sum-up:

-Gloria came back from Tijuana, is 8 mths pregnant with a little girl and is living with the branch president's family

-Elizabeth had her baby boy Remmi-mom and child both doing well

-It rained basically everyday all day so every time we returned home at night, we were drenched (looked and smelled like wet dogs)

-miracles every day

-Luz and her son accepted a baptism date! They have been taught the first 2 lessons. Me and Hermana Zapata didn't even talk about extending a specific baptism date before but when we got in there, the spirit was so strong. Never before did it feel so right to extend the date right then. I know we have the help of the Holy Ghost when we are hear. That it is only through him we can meet the needs of the investigators.

-like going to a house me and Hermana Carpenter contacted a week ago to visit with this lady who told us to give her El Libro De Mormon once she heard it was about Jesus, and she wasn't there but her son answered the door. His name is Nery. He is mid 20s and we got talking with him. He told us he didn't believe in God. Something was different this time. I didn't lose a even a little bit of hope that he was going to reject our message completely because of that. I have to tell you this probably was the best 45 minutes we spent. On Nery's porch. He mentioned he doesn't feel like he's truly happy. We invited him to try what we had. To put the gospel of Jesus Christ to the test. He accepted and committed to do whatever invitation we extended right off the bat. We are excited to start this journey with Nery in helping him find true happiness in his life. We feel really good about him.

I have to say that being able to promise the people specific blessings according to their specific needs is incredible. I cannot express how much I know that the Gospel fill EVERY hole. That holes don't exist through Jesus Christ. Let us not lack. The clarity the gospel gives us is something the world lacks.

Who doesn't need peace, hope, and love? As a missionary, I believe it is the greatest calling. I reflect on the words of the mission call. I think about the promise and covenant I made to God to invite others to his only begotten son Jesus Christ.

We are all called to the work. I am growing every day to understand the true purpose of God. Many days, people ask us,how can there be a God when so much bad is going on? I want to tell you that I know the true purpose of God is exactly as Moses 1:39 says, 'to bring to past the immortality and eternal life of men.' 2 Nephi 2: 28-29 also teaches us that too. May we be ready and willing to give testimony of the things we know to be true. Let this knowledge bless all those that surround you. Remember we are all called to the work in helping God fulfill his purpose.